


Brittle, It Shakes

by rabbitxheart



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Multi, Mutual Masturbation, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-02-25 20:53:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21881821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rabbitxheart/pseuds/rabbitxheart
Summary: “You care for him,” Caduceus says, sounding surprised.“Of course I do,” Fjord says, turning to Caduceus. “We all do.”“But you care differently,” he says, low and soft, so out of place in the middle of a warzone.
Relationships: Caduceus Clay/Fjord, Caduceus Clay/Fjord/Caleb Widogast
Comments: 5
Kudos: 219





	Brittle, It Shakes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AgentBuzzkill](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgentBuzzkill/gifts).



> My gift for Erin for the Widofjord discord server Secret Santa! Merry Christmas <33

“Do you think we can help him somehow?” Fjord asks under his breath, watching Caleb’s shoulders slump, a bad day thankfully mostly behind them.

“We already are,” Caduceus says, handing him the coin purse of a slain cultist. “Whatever journey he’s on, we’re there.”

“Yes, of course, but...”

“But?”

“I just want to make it easier for him,” Fjord sighs. “Do more.”

“You care for him,” Caduceus says, sounding surprised. 

“Of course I do,” Fjord says, turning to Caduceus. “We all do.”

“But you care differently,” he says, low and soft, so out of place in the middle of a warzone.

He should have known that Caduceus, of course, sees beyond what anyone else would. Fjord deflates.

“I won’t tell,” Caduceus promises. For just a second, he looks like he might speak again, but he shakes it off, continues moving with the group, Fjord watching him as he goes.

He’s not worried, not with Caduceus. But it does confuse him, make him pause.

Just like always, Caduceus keeps his word. Sometimes Caleb will say something, or on a few memorable occasions give him something, and he can feel Caduceus’ eyes on them, but nothing ever comes, and he learns to relax again. 

That is, of course, when the whole thing shifts.

Caleb bursts through the cathedral windows, held aloft by a giant paw, setting their enemies ablaze in a hail of stained glass, and Fjord briefly thinks back to a throne room an empire away, tides of war shifted and their lives saved. 

Mostly he’s worried about the Laughing Hand being much too close for comfort.

“ _He’s beautiful_.”

He turns, just barely catching Caduceus’ slipped words in the din of the fight, and their eyes meet, and the confusion starts making sense.

“So.” Thankfully Caduceus picked a booth quite far away from the others, it’s easy enough for them to slip away without the others hearing them.

“So,” Caduceus replies, watching from afar as Caleb and Jester go through the tarot deck, Jester taking notes furiously. 

“I just want you to know,” Fjord says, looking ahead all the while. “If things ever were to… Progress for you. I’d support that.”

“I doubt they will, but I appreciate it greatly. And it’s mutual,” Caduceus says, pouring some of the tea he has brewing on the table. 

“I want him to be happy. He deserves that,” Fjord says, and Caduceus hums in agreement. “But I might need some time if that were the case.”

“I’ve never had feelings like these before,” Caduceus admits. He’s flushed, Fjord sees now, but hides the nerves well. “It’s… Difficult to deal with.”

“They’re confusing enough when you’ve had them before,” Fjord agrees, taking a sip from his tea. 

“Maybe having someone who understands will make it easier,” Caduceus says. “To open communication,” he says, raising his cup in a toast.

“To open communication,” Fjord snorts out a laugh, but still clinks their cups together.

And it is. 

To have someone to turn to, someone to silently scream at when Caleb does something amazing, or self-sacrificial, or smart, or-

There’s always something. But Caduceus heaves a suffering sigh as Caleb steps into the further peace negotiations looking every bit of the potential he had as a young man and then some, and Fjord is happy to know he’s not alone.

_Caleb’s fingers are buried deep in his hair, a firm but gentle tug to keep him right where he wants him._

_Not that Fjord wants to be anywhere else; no. He’s just fine where he is, knees comfortable despite the wooden floor beneath them, the fingers of one hand buried in Caleb’s robes to keep them aside as he brings him closer by the hips with the other, taking as much of him in his mouth as he can. He pulls back for a breath, and Caleb barely manages to keep from following. Fjord rewards him plenty with his tongue for it, Caleb swearing all the while, grabbing his shoulder and shaking it._

_“Caleb?” He asks, and-_

He wakes up with a frustrated groan, Caleb’s name still on his lips, still grinding into the mattress beneath him for relief.

“ _Fjord._ ” 

He wakes up with a start, lifting his head from the pillow just enough to see the outline of Caduceus on the bed, very much awake.

“Sorry, sorry,” Fjord says, dragging a palm down his face as he twists onto his back. “Fuck.”

His breathing slows, the sound of the blood rushing in his ears lessens.

“I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I can go sleep in the-” He begins, looking over again.

Caduceus’ chest is _heaving_ , eyes closed and brows pinched, very decidedly not looking at Fjord.

 _Oh_.

“He-” Fjord tries, just to gauge his reaction, just to _see_ , and Caduceus just barely bites back a noise, rumbling and deep. 

Fjord lies back down tentatively, waiting to see if Caduceus asks him to leave, their breathing is deafening in the silence of the room. 

Finally, Caduceus breaks.

“Fjord, _please_ ,” he says, the sheets moving aside as his hand slips low, voice so wrecked Fjord feels it in his bones.

“We were on the boat,” Fjord begins shakily, already so far gone, and feels the rickety bed move as Caduceus keeps pace next to him, close enough to feel the warmth and the movement without touching skin. “And he had me on my knees.”

Just this once.

Okay, maybe twice.

Fine, three times.

Eventually, Fjord just stops counting. 

Going to the Traveler meet-up by boat does them all some good. A break from the war, the negotiations, the manipulations. Fjord feels close to the Wildmother already, but it’s amplified at sea; the noise and the scents and the sand that somehow gets into his clothing despite leaving for sea from a dock. All of it.

In this case it does present some challenges, however, somewhere between white, soft beaches, entirely cloudless skies and the swimming it tends to bring.

“I don’t think I’m gonna make it,” Fjord whines as silently as he’s able, thankfully relatively sound proofed in the Captain’s Quarters like this, hand still moving frantically. “I can’t take this.”

“Two more days,” Caduceus says beside him, just as desperate. “Just two more. We have to. There’s so much skin, but we have to.”

“He has freckles. _Freckles_ . I’m gonna chafe at this rate,” Fjord groans, then hisses as pleasure threatens to build once again, borderlining on painful. “I don’t think I can come again, _fuck_ -” 

“Gentle,” Caduceus reminds him, and knocks his hand away only to replace it with his own, and Fjord almost yells. Turning his head to Caduceus shoulder he thinks about what else this bed might fit, Caleb fitting against his back and Caduceus against his front, both of them working in tandem to-

Fjord comes, muffling his sobs against Caduceus’ shoulder, Caduceus following as if on command.

They set up camp just outside of Blumenthal, in meadows Caleb seem to know like the back of his hand even decades later. It’s beautiful despite the looming war, endless upon endless plots of land weaving a patchwork of crops and flowers through the land.

It has been a while since they last slept in the dome, but for tonight, that is exactly what they do.They curl up while Frumpkin sits above them, Jester and Nott on first watch. By the time Caleb and Beau take theirs, Fjord has already drifted in and out of sleep several times over.

“Hey, can I ask you a question? About Astrid and Eodwulf?” Beau says, low enough to not wake anyone up.

“I reserve my right not to answer,” Caleb says after a pause.

“Yeah, that’s fair,” Beau nods. “Were the three of you ever…?” 

“Ever what? _Oh_. No, no.” Caleb says calmly, and Fjord hears him rearrange his things a little. “Never like that. Just very close.”

“Oh,” she says, and almost sounds disappointed.

“What’s on your mind?”

“I… May have. Thoughts. Y’know?”

At this, Caleb sighs heavily.

“If you would have asked me a year ago, I would say I didn’t. But now?” He says, and Fjord chomps down on his bottom lip to keep the gasp down. “I think I do.”

Fjord turns his head to pretend he’s sleeping, just in case they look over, and finds himself face to face with Caduceus, eyes wide and mouth agape.

Long, slim fingers find his, cautiously entwining in the dark. Fjord squeezes just the once, encouraging and hopeful all at once.

“God, we’re such a mess,” Beau says behind him, and Caleb makes a noise, half-humor, half-despair.

“Truly.”

“So.”

“So.”

“This feels oddly familiar,” Caduceus grumbles, looking accusatory to the teapot between them. Not dead people tea, this time. Just something fruity Caduceus bought in town.

“How do we make this look less like an ambush?” Fjord sighs. “Come in, Caleb,” he says mockingly. “Have a seat, let’s review the pros and cons on a goddamn spreadsheet.”

“I’m tempted to just write a letter,” Caduceus sighs. “Do you like us, circle yes or no. We could send Nott,” he says like he’s considering it for real. “Wait, maybe he’ll think it was her.”

“You two are not as subtle as you think,” a voice comes from beside them, both of them snapping around to see Caleb stand there, clearly a little self-conscious. He is smiling though, a little crooked and so, so beautiful.

“We’re so sorry, we-”

“There is a hill not too far from here where you can see the entire town. It’s beautiful at night,” he says, stopping Fjord’s train of thought. He places his hands on the table, both palms up. Taking one is the easiest, most natural thing. Caduceus hesitates for the slightest of seconds before taking the other. 

“Yeah, okay,” Fjord says, and Caduceus nods.

“We’ll follow your lead.”


End file.
